Nixie is the future of selfies, a wearable drone camera that flies off your wrist

Selfie is now a word in the dictionary. Front facing cameras on phones are getting higher in quality and wider in lens angles. But now selfies are going to reach a new level with Nixie, a drone quadcopter that folds to be worn on your wrist.

Nixie is a project being entered into Intel's Make It Wearable competition. The idea is this flexible drone will live on your wrist like a band. When you want a selfie you simply make a hand gesture and the drone will unfold and take off. It can then spot you and line up a photo automatically.

So no more awkward selfies twisting the wrist uncomfortably, wobbling the phone or taking too-close-up photos. The project should be made possible thanks to the super-small Intel Edison processing board that will allow the drone to stay small and lightweight.

Nixie's creator Christoph Kohstall has not explained if the user can frame a photo using their mobile as a monitor, but we'd presume it will be an option. Otherwise it will be nice to simply set the drone off and have it automatically capture a clear selfie shot as you have it specified to do - say with close-up or panoramic modes.

Nixie is one of the entrants for the $50,000 prize fund. Here's hoping it wins so we can start wearing our very own drones soon. Imagine using it to scout ahead to check if a bus is coming, or to see around corners. The possibilities are very exciting.